Big Sister
by XrhiaX
Summary: Will be a two- or three-shot. Korra's parents decide to have another baby, and she doesn't know how to handle that. There will probably be some Makorra.


Korra felt like the weight of the world had been taken from her shoulders. She had returned her own bending, and that of Republic City's esteemed chief of police. Senna and Tonraq knew very well how scared and stressed she had been about it all, and now she was finally herself again. They were happy to see their daughter feeling better, more than anything else. They would have loved her, Avatar or not, bender or not - two eyes or three. She was their little girl, and she always would be.

But there was a certain part of her that was … undeveloped. Korra was seventeen, and a fully realized Avatar now, with friends and responsibilities, and she knew a lot about the world. She was seasoned and trained, but part of her was still very immature - childish even. Senna sometimes thought it was from the way she'd been doted on and taken care of, as the Avatar. A lot of the White Lotus sentries and officials had doted on her, and given in to her every whim. After being discovered, a lot of Korra's bringing up had been in the hands of the White Lotus - Korra's parents regretted that.

If she hadn't been the Avatar, they themselves probably would have taught her to waterbend.

Korra was seventeen now, old enough to reason with. Tonraq and Senna had decided to have another baby, and now they needed to tell their firstborn, the fully realized Avatar, who had only just begun to calm down after the end of the war in Republic City. They would have liked to wait, to give her a little time, but they weren't getting any younger. Senna hadn't even been particularly young seventeen years ago, upon getting pregnant with Korra.

The Avatar's parents argued in hushed whispers each night after the return of Korra's bending. They had their reasons, of course. It wasn't just a random idea. They hadn't really gotten to be Korra's parents as she grew up, with the White Lotus constantly hovering. Each time they had tried to give Korra a piece of candy, it was _simply not acceptable, _because she needed to be in _tip-top physical condition. _That had been at age six. Tonraq didn't even know what _tip-top physical condition _**was **for a six-year-old girl with a pot-belly - which, he had to admit was from his side of the family.

And they could have had another child when Korra had been younger, if not for being afraid that the whole Avatar thing would make a younger child feel inferior. They simply hadn't been able to guarantee that having the Avatar for an older sister would be a good thing for a child, or if having a younger brother or sister would be good for Korra - she already had so much responsibility on her head as it was. But Korra was seventeen now, and she had decided to live in Republic City with her friends - since it was the capitol of the world, and there was a lot to do there - so if they wanted to have another baby, now was definitely the time.

They loved their daughter. She was, and always would be, their baby girl, no matter what. But this was big news, and they didn't know how she would take it. Would she be a thrilled big sister, or would she feel like they were trying to replace her? Like she had failed as their child because she was the Avatar?

The morning they decided they would tell her, Korra was happily slurping steaming noodles from a bowl in her palm, sitting outside on the steps in front of Katara's hut, with her 'Team Avatar' - the firebender who Tonraq was suspicious of, the earthbender who Senna thought was a 'nice young man', and the Sato girl who both thought would be a good influence on their daughter. The team saw the parents coming and quickly scattered, catching onto the 'something to tell you' vibe they were putting out.

"Morning, Mom," Korra stuffed some noodles into her mouth with her chopsticks, "Morning Dad," she continued, eyes fixed on the food in her hand, "Sleep good?"

Tonraq smiled and sat down on the steps as well. Senna sat down too. "Pretty good," he agreed, and leant toward his daughter with his fingers in a pincer shape to snatch a noodle lying tauntingly over the lip of the bowl. He snatched it quickly and ate it even faster. He felt Senna smacking him on the arm on his other side, but Korra extended the bowl to him to eat as he pleased, still slurping enthusiastically. "How are you liking being back home?" he asked with a smile. He'd be lying if he said he didn't mind her moving _all the way _to _Republic City _on the _other side of the world _where she couldn't call him if someone _happened to try something, _but Senna had assured him Korra could handle herself. And Senna had never been wrong before.

Korra gave a bit of a nod, then said, with a full mouth, "It's a lot colder than I remember," before making a thoughtful face, "But I guess I spent winter in the city," by way of excuse.

Tonraq chuckled and stole some more noodles from her bowl. "We'll have to toughen you up again before you leave."

Senna cleared her throat and nudged him in the arm, reminding him what they needed to tell their daughter. Tonraq gulped his noodles, feeling a little nervous. He wondered if Korra's wrath was anything like Senna's. When his wife really got going, she was a nightmare, and she scared the living daylights out of him. Korra was the Avatar. Maybe she was more … in control of her … fury.

Korra suddenly put the bowl into her father's hand, chopsticks still inside, and leant back on her elbows, one hand on her full stomach. "That reminds me," she gave a slight yawn, "I thought we could go penguin-sledding before I go. Just us three. Like old times, you know?" she gave her mother a hopeful smile, past her father, who was tucking into her leftover noodles.

Senna laughed under her breath and then shook her head. "Old times like when the White Lotus was living with us, or old times before you were the Avatar?" she arched a brow.

Korra looked smug for a moment. "Both," she decided, before adding, "Remember when Dad knocked that sentry down the slope?" she snorted a laugh.

Tonraq and Korra immediately exchanged mischievous looks, and Senna rolled her eyes. "Tonraq," she shot her husband a look and gave him a hand-signal that she had decided meant 'go on, tell her'. Korra caught it, her senses sharpened by recent events, and glanced between her parents. Tonraq noticed the change in his daughter's expression, and immediately wanted to backpedal.

Korra's parents glanced at one another, and then stared at Korra for a moment, gathering their words.

"Is …" Korra pulled a face, "is there something you wanted to talk to me about?" she asked slowly.

Tonraq straightened where he sat and put the bowl on the step below him, out of his way. Senna watched him carefully, expecting him to probably say the wrong thing first, and then leave her to fix it once he was reduced to awkward sputtering and childish reasoning. Once Korra was flustered, it would be up to Senna to calm her down. That was how it usually went between them, anyway, if they happened to have something they needed to discuss with Korra - though, last time it had been several years ago about cleaning her room, before she had moved back to the compound, between mastering earthbending and beginning her firebending training.

Tonraq cleared his throat, coughed into his hand, and turned to his daughter again, who was looking at him and wearing a look halfway between curiosity and suspicion. "Korra," he began authoritatively, "you're our baby girl, no matter what," he said nervously, and Senna thought it smart for him to open with a nice, grounding, reassuring line, "and that's never going to change," he continued, raising a hand a little bit to swipe across the air. His wife could almost read his mind - he was struggling not to press on with the word 'but'.

There was an awkward pause, and Korra stared at her folks, giving a few confused blinks. "Uh … okay?" she drawled expectantly.

The Avatar's father stared back at her for a moment, pulled an anxious expression and turned to give his wife a pleading look.

Senna sighed heavily, "Korra, what your Dad's trying to say is, don't freak out," she clarified, and this clarity seemed to calm the Avatar a little bit. "We have to tell you something, and it's rather important," she explained calmly, a reassuring smile finding its way onto her face.

Korra seemed a little more settled with the cool head of her mother casting an air of calmness on whatever it was they wanted to tell her. "Okay. I'm not gonna freak out," she promised with a nod and a little smile. "What's up?" she continued to look expectant. To Tonraq, it looked like she was expecting them to announce they were moving to the city with her, or that they were going to rebuild the house or something.

Senna drew a breath and glanced warningly to Tonraq, her eyes telling him to mind what came from his mouth. "Your father and I have decided to have another baby," she stated slowly, her eyes fixed on her daughter's. There was a moment of pure silence, wherein Korra stared at her mother with an unreadable expression on her face, her mother stared at her, and Tonraq's eyes moved between the two of them.

Korra's jaw dropped a little and she tore her eyes from Senna to Tonraq, searching. His eyes confirmed that this was the truth, and her brow furrowed, her lower lip shifting into a confused pout. In that moment, Korra wasn't a seventeen-year-old fully-realized Avatar to them, but a scared little girl - _his _scared little girl - unsure of what was going on. Korra looked around, swallowing and thinking. "Uh … wow," she said hesitantly, searching for something to say on the matter, trying to figure out _how she felt _about it.

Senna knew that most new big brothers and sisters were very young when they received the news, too young to think of anything but having a new kid to play with, but Korra was almost fully grown up. She imagined her daughter must have felt like she was being replaced - that in some way, this was because she was moving away to be the Avatar Republic City needed. She was seventeen, but Senna could see all the emotions of a confused six-year-old crossing her daughter's face.

Korra's hands grasped the edge of the step under her, and she looked like she was going to get up. Tonraq quickly took charge. "Korra, this doesn't change anything. It doesn't change that you're our baby - that we love you. Nothing and nobody can ever change that," he tried to sound reassuring, but his daughter's face crumpled, and he thought he'd said the wrong thing.

"What are you talking about?" she snapped, and her eyes glassed over with tears, "It … it changes everything!" Korra stiffened where she sat, bristled and scooted away from her parents, reaching with one arm to the rail of the stairs and tugging herself up. Once she was up, her hands went to her head. "You …" she began, thinking too hard to speak properly. She drew a long, shaky breath and clenched her jaw, a hand coming up to her face and trying to wipe discreetly at her eyes.

Tonraq and Senna looked on, looking a little shamefaced, and suddenly aware of how alone they were out here. Everyone was inside, and they had the snow to themselves.

Korra stared at them, hands at her sides for a long time, before she suddenly drew a shuddery breath and shook her head sharply. "I … I'm sorry," she apologized and waved at the air, blinking away the tears that she had stopped from falling, "It's just … a lot to take in," she gave a controlled exhale, calming herself. Her parents watched her carefully, analyzing her every move, every twitch of her facial expression. Korra stepped backward, toward the hut she and her friends were staying in, her heels crunching in the snow. She had opted not to stay with them on coming home, and she was probably thankful for that now. "I need to think about it," she said after a while, forcing a little smile.

"Korra-," Tonraq called after her, but she turned around again and started running. He knew his daughter wasn't someone who ran from things, except when they got _really _bad, and she had no idea where to put herself. He hated that they had pushed her to that. He looked to his wife, who looked a little worried, her hands folded over her middle - and he had found himself looking at that middle rather often, since the decision, always hoping to see a bump there, unlikely as that was.

Senna looked to him, her brows tilted upward. "Will she be alright?" she asked reluctantly.

Tonraq breathed in. "She's Korra," he replied, "She's tough," he tried to reassure her, giving a tiny, solemn smile.

They got up and walked home, worried. They didn't try to conceive that night.


End file.
